EPA To Designate Non-Attainment Areas for Ground Level Ozone April 15
By Brett Rosenberg
April 12, 2004
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to issue final non-attainment designations for the new 8-hour ground-level ozone standard April 15. States were required to submit to the EPA air quality monitoring data and recommendations for ozone non-attainment by July of last year. The EPA's designations are based largely upon these recommendations.
Ground-level ozone, which occurs when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds from vehicle and industrial emissions react with heat and sunlight, can cause serious health problems, particularly for people with sensitive immune systems, like children and the elderly. As a major component of smog, ozone can also have harmful effects on visibility and ecological functions, and is known to travel across long distances as the wind carries it, leading to attainment challenges away from the original sources.
The EPA's designation process is meant to further protect human health. The new 8-hour standard is based on research indicating that the prior standard was inadequate to ensure and maintain a level of safety while improving air quality in general.
Should a region receive a non-attainment designation for ozone, its state is required to submit a State Implementation Plan, or SIP, to the EPA by 2007 outlining the steps it plans to take to achieve air quality that meets the attainment standards. According to the EPA, once an attainment classification takes effect, it plays an important role in alerting the public about air quality and triggers important components of state and local efforts to reduce ground-level ozone and its precursors. Such efforts can involve addressing power plant emissions, controlling gasoline vapors at filling stations, and offering incentives for using public transportation. Depending on the location and severity of the problem, a region will need to meet the 8-hour ozone standard between 2007 and 2021.
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